Friday, 11 March 2016

IAmLearn #mobile newsletter is out: research, ethics, CfP @IAMLorg

One of the academically most influential mobile learning organisations IAmLearn, has just released the first issue of their mLearning newsletter. The newsletter begins with an overview of the changes in the organisation, and continues with some insights from mobile experts, and philosophical ideas with regard to mobile learning.

The mobile learning community will converge on Sydney, Australia from 24-26 October 2016. The 15th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (mLearn 2016) will be hosted by the University of Technology Sydney. The 2016 conference theme is Mobile Learning Futures: Sustaining Quality Research and Practice in Mobile Learning.

The mLearn 2016 paper submission system is now open, and the deadline for submission is May 30, 2016. Full details can be found on the Call for Papers section of the conference website.

The newsletter can be read here, but I also include some of the information shared below, but you need to go to the IAmLearn newsletter page to have access to all the links:

Broadcast Thoughts: PodCasts and VodCasts

One of the longest standing debates amongst mLearning researchers and practitioners is the actual definition of mobile learning. IAmLearn Secretary Dr. Jocelyn Wishart and President Dr. Aga Palalas recently participated in a podcast about defining mLearning. We invite you to listen to the podcast, and share your thoughts on what mLearning is in the comments section for this edition of the IAmLearn Newsletter.

IAmLearn Executive Committee members Dr. Dean Cristol and Dr. Rob Power recently "sat down" for a vodcast to discuss emerging trends in educational technology and mobile learning. The session used Google Hangouts On Air to broadcast live to participants in the Ohio State University's Literacy, New Media, and Creative Pedagogies for Classrooms undergraduate Education course, and is available now via YouTube.

Reflections from mLearnCon 2015

IAmLearn President Dr. Aga Palalas had the opportunity to network with a number of mobile learning and educational technology specialists at mLearnCon 2015. The event, organized by the eLearning Guild, took place June 10-12, 2015, in Austin, Texas. Dr. Palalas recorded a number of candid conversations about their experiences at mLearnCon, the value of the conference, and their views on key issues in the mobile learning sphere. Watch the following video compilation of her mLearnCon Colleague Connections.

In the next video, Dr. Palalas talks to colleagues, including Krista Hildner, about the Relationship between mLearning and Performance Support.

The Future of Mobile Learning was the subject of conversations between Dr. Palalas, Phil Cowcill and other colleagues.

What Killed the Mobile Learning Dream - Traxler

IAmLearn Vice-President Professor John Traxler recently spoke at JISC's Digifest about the current state of mobile learning research and practical implementation efforts. He told participants that "mobile learning has stalled," and challenged them to "examine what's happened and how can it get back on track." Check out the message from Professor Traxler's presentationWhat killed the mobile learning dream? via JISC.

Global Mobile Awards 2016

The 2016 Global Mobile (Glomo) Awards were announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which took place from February 22-25, 2016. Worldreader and Opera's entry, Worldreader Mobile, took top honors in the Best Mobile Innovation for Education category. Worldreader Mobile is an application that uses extreme compression technology to provide access to digital books to over 350 million users worldwide, using very little bandwidth and devices that they already own. The 2016 Glomo Awards judges noted of Worldreader Mobile that it is a “highly effective and useful platform-agnostic compression system, providing social development opportunities – borne out by the huge market take-up.”

You can use your mobile phone to check out Worldreader Mobile, and you can get an overview of the application from the Glomo Awards site. You can also check out the Glomo Awards website for the full list of winners in all categories.

Mobile Learning Research Project from Poland

Currently, our company from Poland is preparing an application to get funding for a project regarding mobile social learning for families struggling with chronic diseases.

At the moment, we are looking for a scientist who would help us to do the research phase as well as to develop a methodology of social learning on mobile devices for families with chronic illnesses. We would like to cooperate with a researcher who is interested in this topic or specializes in the area. The target group is very specific so it’s important that the expert knows this area or would like to go deeper regarding this subject. You can read more about the research project to date HERE.

Upcoming Events

UNESCO Mobile Learning Week (March 7-11, 2016)

UNESCO's Mobile Learning Week has been scheduled for March 7-11, 2016 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris France. This year's theme is Innovating for Quality. A number of IAmLearn members are planning to attend the event, and we'll be posting a newsletter update with their summaries and impressions. If you cannot attend the event, you can still catch some of the highlights. UNESCO will be streaming recordings of some of the key proceedings online.

FocusOn Mobile - Austin, TX (June 8-10, 2016)

Part of the FocusOn Learning conference, FocusOn Mobile "continues the industry-leading conversations of mLearnCon that explore cutting-edge examples of mobile being used to transform learning and performance support."

2016 AMO Awards - Shanghai, China (June 29 - July 1, 2016)

Following on the 2016 GSMA Mobile World congress in February, the 2016 Asia Mobile Awards will take place from June 29 - July 1, 2016, in shanghai, China. Entries are still being accepted in a number of categories, including Mobile Apps, Connected Lifestyle, and Technology Innovation. Nominated entries will be announced in June on the AMO Awards website.